Sarat Kumar Ray (Bengali: শরৎ কুমার রায়) (1876–1946) was a member of the royal family of Dighapatia. A noted scholar, he was the son of the Raja (King) Pramathanath Ray and lived in the Maharaja's Palace. Along with historian Ramaprasad Chanda, he co-founded the Varendra Research Museum,[1][2][3][4][5] which Lord Dundas the Governor of Bengal, inaugurated in November 1919. He was well traveled, and visited England in 1900. He was a friend of Rabindranath Tagore.

Early life

Ray was born in 1876 in Dighapatia Raj family in Natore District, Bengal Presidency, British Raj. His father was Pramathanath Ray, the Zamindar of Dighapatia.[3] He studied at Rajshahi Collegiate School and Ripon College (renamed Surendranath College).[3] He earned a B.A. from Presidency College and a Masters in Physics from the University of Calcutta.[3] He joined the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad after being introduced to it by his teacher Ramendra Sundar Tribedi. Through the Parishad he became acquainted with Dwijendranath Tagore and Rabindranath Tagore.[3]

Career

Ray published his book, Sivaji O Guru Gobinda Singha, in 1908 for which an introduction was written by Rabindranath Tagore.[6]

Ray, along with Ramaprasad Chanda and Akshay Kumar Maitreya, worked to discover and preserve the archeological sites in the Varendra region of Bengal.[3][7] They also worked with R. D. Banerji to explore different sites. On 27 September 1910 they founded the Varendra Research Society.[3] Ray was the president of the society.[8] They needed a museum to preserve the antiques they discovered. Ray donated 63 thousand rupee and his brother donated the land for the museum.[3] The museum was inaugurated by Lord Dundas the Governor of Bengal, inaugurated in November 1919.[3]

Ray backed Ramaprasad Chanda in his anthropometric research work circa 1910.[9]

Ray was a management member of Bangiya Sahitya Sammilani, Indian Music Society, Rajshahi Association, Rajshahi Public Library, and The Asiatic Society.[3] He was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council in 1930.[3]

Death

Ray died on 12 April 1946.[3]

References

  1. ^ University of Rajshahi. "Varendra Research Museum". Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  2. ^ "Varendra Research Museum". Banglapedia. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Ray, Saratkumar". Banglapedia. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  4. ^ "Varendra Research Museum nurtures country's heritage". The Independent. Dhaka. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  5. ^ Datta, Sanjukta (2009). "Artefacts and Antiquities in Bengal: Some Perspectives Within an Emerging Non-official Sphere". In Singh, Upinder; Lahiri, Nayanjot (eds.). Ancient India: New Research. Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-19-806028-4.
  6. ^ Tuteja, K. L.; Chakraborty, Kaustav (2017). Tagore and Nationalism. Springer. p. 259. ISBN 978-81-322-3696-2.
  7. ^ Lahiri, Nayanjot (2006). Finding Forgotten Cities: How the Indus Civilization was Discovered. Permanent Black. p. 186. ISBN 978-81-7824-159-3.
  8. ^ Studies in Modern Bengal. Institute of Bangladesh Studies, University of Rajshahi. 1981. p. 246.
  9. ^ Mukharji, Projit Bihari (18 April 2017). "The Bengali Pharaoh: Upper-Caste Aryanism, Pan-Egyptianism, and the Contested History of Biometric Nationalism in Twentieth-Century Bengal". Comparative Studies in Society and History. Cambridge University Press. 59 (2): 446–476. doi:10.1017/S001041751700010X. ISSN 0010-4175.


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